Qualitative Participation and Social Harmony: A Study of the Literacy Movement in West Bengal (India)

Transcription

1 Network of Asia-Pacific Schools and Institutes of Public Administration and Governance (NAPSIPAG) Annual Conference 2005 Beijing, PRC, 5-7 December 2005 Theme: The Role of Public Administration in Building a Harmonious Society Workshop on Enlarging Citizen Participation and Increasing Local Autonomy in Achieving Societal Harmony Workshop Qualitative Participation and Social Harmony: A Study of the Literacy Movement in West Bengal (India) Dr. Rabindranath Bhattacharyya Head of the Department of Political Science, The University of Burdwan, West Bengal, India

2 Qualitative participation is one of a class of essentially contested concept. Since the popularity of the democratic ideas, theorists have been interested to establish the congruence of the formal democracy as a constitution for popular government and real democracy in the sense of qualitative participation of the people in the government. But there is a lot of difference in opinion among political theorists and political sociologists about the nature and extent of such congruence especially in the case of India. The democratic process in India, since independence, has followed a political sequence of its own. But through out this journey of Indian polity towards democracy some issues have remained as major blocks towards the congruence of formal and real democracy. One such issue is poor rate of literacy among the people. This poor rate of literacy has hampered participation in two ways: i) it has impeded the development of rationality required for qualitative participation among the citizens that lead them to understand the perspectives and needs of others and seek solutions that accommodate as far as possible the needs and interests of all; ii) it has helped the maintenance of, if not facilitated, social cohesions along with primordial loyalties towards language, religion, caste and ethnic groups and that way has blocked social harmony and hampered the extension of political citizenship through the active participation in the government. In India participation in the village level Panchayati Raj 1 represents one means of participation in the larger democratic system, which is relatively accessible to the disadvantaged and facilitates the participation of the people in deciding on the factors governing their lives, public accountability of leaders, and an equitable distribution of power. This paper is an attempt to explore that an increase in the literacy rate increases the competence of the citizens for participation in the decision-making structures of the rural local government viz. Gram Panchayats. Notion of Qualitative Participation: Participation is a social process characterized by the collective initiative of a people in an organized framework to promote their self-perceived interests through means over which they can exert effective control. The body politic is only a metaphor; but the communal action is a fundamental fact of social life. Hence, the proper approach to participatory democracy is to consider the ways through which social beings do things together. Not only do the social beings act in common, but individual acts are subject to rules of ownership as complicated as the laws of property. A society will seem to itself to be much more participant, if the actions actually performed by the official are seen as having been done at its instigation and for its sake, and are therefore, accepted by the people as being in some extended sense of their own. It is largely a matter of social psychology, but is grounded on the peculiar logic of the concept of action. But this action cannot be merely proclaimed, it has to be promoted. In an ideal harmonious living, collective decisions do not result merely by aggregating the pre-existing the desires of the members of the polity. Rather, the participants attempt to influence each others opinion in a rational manner and they strive to understand the perspectives and needs of others and seek solutions that accommodate as far as possible the needs and interests of all. This requires competence on the part of the participants. Long ago J. S. Mill 2 tried to combine these two contradictory values of participation and competence by invoking two principles: i) principle of participation that required that the participation of each citizen be as great as possible to promote the interests of all citizens; ii) the principle of competence, which stipulates that the influence of the more qualified citizens should be as great as possible in the promotion of citizens interests. Mill opines that the goodness of a government depends upon i) the degree to which it is adapted to take advantage of the amount of good qualities in the governed that exist at any particular time; and ii) the degree to which it tends to increase the sum of good qualities in the governed. The first criterion refers to what may be called the protective goal; since Mill would consider it satisfactory to the extent that the interests of citizens and the general interest are protected in the institutions of government. The second criterion (for Mill the more important one) refers to what may be termed the educative goal, because it deals with government as an agency of national education. Applying these two criteria, Mill in effect invokes two principles. The first, which may be called the principle of participation, required that the participation of each citizen should be as great as possible to promote both the protective and educative goals of government. Mill s arguments for extensive participation appeal to the need to protect the interests of each citizen and to improve the political intelligence of all citizens. The second that may be termed as the principle of competence stipulates that the influence of the more qualified citizens should 2

3 be as great as possible to promote both the protective and educative goals. Here Mill appeals to the need for competent leadership to protect against the dangers of ignorance and of sinister interests in the government and among the public, and to contribute to the process of civic education. Although the two principles set the same goals, they call for different means to realize these goals and, therefore, often conflict with each other. The principle of participation constrains the principle of competence, just as the latter principle limits the former. Qualitative participation in effect upholds a judicious admixture of both the principles, emphasizing on the participation of the maximum number of competent people in the structures of decision-making. Hence for qualitative participation, education remains one of the essential criteria for the participating citizens. West Bengal Experience: Freedoms are, observed Dreze, J. and Sen, A, thus, among the principal means as well as the primary ends of development. Similarly, illiteracy and what Nehru called, more generally, ignorance, involve not only a negation of the freedom to read and write, but also an impairment of the opportunity to understand and communicate, to take informed personal decisions, and to participate in social choice. Illiteracy is, in fact, a type of social unfreedom and supplements and often intensifies the burden of economic unfreedom in the form of income poverty. 3 Like most of the Asian countries, India had been suffering from the low-level of literacy that obstructed the awareness of the Indians about their own social-political or economic condition. As per the Press Information Bureau of India release, When India gained independence, four out of five of her citizens could not read. The fast growth in literacy in the recent decades even in the face of huge additions to the population depicts a remarkable positive trend. At the same time, we cannot lose sight of the fact that India still have a long way to go towards the goal of total literacy. Out of about 87 crore illiterate adults in the world, 30 crore are Indians. 4 Hence in the post-independence period, the govt. launched different programmes to increase the literacy rate so that the gap between formal democracy and real level of democracy could be mitigated. Table I 5 Literacy rates (%) in India ( ) Census year Persons Males Females Male-Female gap in literacy rate (Literacy rates for the years 1951, 1961 and 1971 censuses relate to the population aged five years and above while those for the 1981,1991 and 2001 censuses relate to the population seven years and above.) India's perception about literacy varied over time. But with the birth of National Literacy Mission in 1988, the perception of literacy, its definition and norms reflected the objective of functional literacy. 6 In the initial phase of the literacy movement marked by the Total Literacy Campaign (TLC) approach, "Total Literacy Declaration" became a contentious issue. TLC model is area-specific, time-bound, volunteerbased, cost-effective and outcome-oriented. The thrust is on attainment of functional literacy through prescribed norms of literacy. Functional literacy not only enables people in the obvious skills of reading and writing but it also touches on every issue of development such as health, population growth, family welfare, women s empowerment and, most important of all, employment. West Bengal, a constituent state, located in the east of India, has been ruled by a Left Front government since According to West Bengal Human Development Report 2004, With a population of about 82 million in 2001 according to the 2001 Census, West Bengal is the fourth most populous state 3

4 situated in the eastern region of India. Accounting for about 2.7 per cent of India s area (88,752 square km) but about 7.8 per cent of the country s population, this state ranks first in terms of density of 904 per sq km as per the 2001 Census. About 72 per cent of the people live in rural areas. According to the Planning Commission, the proportion of population below the poverty line in in West Bengal was per cent. The percentages of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe populations are 28.6 and 5.8 respectively in the rural areas and 19.9 and 1.5 respectively in the urban areas. Among the minorities, the Muslims are the dominant section and they account for about 28.6 per cent of the total population in West Bengal. The corresponding figures for rural and urban areas were 33.3 per cent and 11.8 per cent respectively. Further, it may be noted that these three categories, namely SC, ST and Minorities, together account for more than half the population, and these are also the three poorest groups in rural Bengal. 7 Since 1977 two major sets of institutional changes have occurred in West Bengal. The first consists of land reform, mainly of tenancy reform and the distribution of agricultural and homestead land to landless and poor farmers. The second major institutional change is associated with the establishment of a three-tier system of local government (or Panchayat) in accordance with the 73 rd Constitutional Amendment Act. Prior to 73rd Constitution Amendment Act a two-tier system of governance the Federal and State units was prevalent in Indian polity. By the 73 rd Constitutional Amendment Act the third tier for governance, comprising of the District, Block and Village levels has come into existence, which has become responsible both for area planning and implementation of all development plans and programmes. West Bengal was the first state in India to establish a real participatory democracy by transferring the decision-making powers from governmental bureaucracies to the people through the directly elected Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI). Although Total Literacy Campaign also started in West Bengal at the same time along with other states, literacy in West Bengal is still far short of mass literacy. According to Census data, 77.0 per cent of males and 59.6 per cent of females were literate in In West Bengal the literacy campaign has been conducted under four heads: i) Formal education Children in between 5 to 8 age group will have to be sent to the institutional system or the primary school; ii) Informal education the scheme [e.g. Shishu Shiksha Karmasuchi (child education programme)] for those children who remain outside the formal system of education because of various socio-economic constraints; iii) Adult education the target group under this programme ranges from younger adults of age group up to old adults of above 50 age; iv) Women education to wipe out the traditional belief that women are best suited for domestic work and hence there is no need of sending girl child to school. Table II Rate of literacy as a proportion of all persons of West Bengal and India since 1951 up to 2001 Census Year Males Females West Bengal India West Bengal India Source: Census of India, various volumes and the website of the Dept. of Education, Govt. of India. However it is evident from the Table II that the rate of literacy in West Bengal in proportion to the all-india rate of literacy has been higher than the corresponding figure for India in most of the post- Independence Census since But one may observe a jump in the rate of literacy from 1991 census to that of the 2001census, which is a direct fall out of the Total Literacy Campaign. This rate of literacy has been backed by a growth of primary education (Data on the basis of school enrolment and not on the basis of actual school attendance). The official data regarding the school enrolment in West Bengal is very poor as compared to other states. Despite going by the State Elementary Education Report Card: percentage of girls enrolment in 2004 was: in primary 49.5%, 4

5 primary + upper primary 51.6%, primary + secondary / higher secondary 51.3, upper primary 57.9%, and upper primary + secondary 46.6%. The report is impressive in comparison to other states in India. But these data come from school registers, which are created and maintained by school staff whose employment depends on the enrolment that they register. The fact that the proportion of pupils enrolled in an age-cohort is often larger than the size of the age-cohort itself is the clearest evidence of false data. Despite the Report of the Education Commission of West Bengal of 1992 provides a useful account of the progress of school education (and primary education in particular) under the Left Front government. According to the Education Commission 9 there are a number of reasons for a steep progress of primary education in West Bengal. First, the number of schools increased, school enrolments increased more than 80 per cent between 1977 and 1992, and the average distance between schools and living settlements was reduced across the state especially in the area inhabited by the Dalits and Adivasis Secondly, all school education was made free through out the state. Thirdly, the number of teachers was increased. Fourthly, the government improved the conditions of employment of teachers: their salaries, allowances and retirement benefits rose substantially after the Left Front came to power. Fifthly, certain schemes for providing textbooks free of cost took place. Sixthly, Govt. of West Bengal introduced a system of no-detention or automatic promotion for the first five years of school. However the Report of the Education Commission also noted that dropping out is still a major feature of primary education, that the quality of teaching has not improved, that the system of school inspection has in practice become defunct, and that no real accountability exists anywhere. To sum up, the macro statistics on literacy and school attendance show that progress has been made in West Bengal through the literacy movement. Going by the West Bengal Human Development Report 2004 this progress has especially been made among various groups comprising of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Class, 10 However the objective of literacy movement is not simply to enable the person to read, write or do simple calculations. It is rather conceived as a dynamic social reconstruction programme extended to develop the untapped human resources. The population covered under the programme and the villagers at large are expected to be elevated to a new level of consciousness about environmental issues, relations in society, role of women in rural society, communal harmony or national integration etc. It must have the character of functionality and awareness that are fundamental in bringing out a radical change in the society through prior changes in the perceptual and motivational world of the concerned individuals. Literacy and Participation: This paper works with the hypothesis that the increase in the rate of literacy puts its impact over participation by increasing not only the quantity but also the quality of the participation. In fact the functional literacy increases the awareness among the ill-informed citizenry whose participation was still now confined almost exclusively to voting and consequently the post-election participation in the decision-making process remained limited. Once the awareness is increased the principle of competence operates among the citizens while they participate in the institutional set up. To assess the increase in the quality of participation in West Bengal as a fall out of the increase in literacy rate one may look at the participation in the Gram Sansad 11 (Village Constituency) grass-root institutional set up of active Panchayat system, which has remained very poor in West Bengal since its inception. Gram Sansad and Gram Sabha have been conceptualized in this paper not as a delivery system of higher level of government but as an active institution of local self-government. There are many reasons for poor participation in the Gram Sansad / Gram Sabha meeting: 1. Lack of awareness among the voters about their role and rights in Gram Sansad / Gram Sabha; 2. Complex nature of village social structure prohibiting the participation of the weaker sections; 3. Sidelining of marginalized section in the decision-making; 4. Strong perception of non-utility of meetings since decisions are perceived to be taken in the party offices of the ruling party of the Panchayat; 5. Hesitation among women to actively participate because of social taboos; 6. Perception of decision-making as an affair of the higher echelons of the village; 7. Inconvenient meeting venue. 5

6 However one may find that most of these reasons are bound to be influenced positively, if not wiped out, by the increase in the functional literacy. In their study M. Ghatak, and M. Ghatak 12 have assessed the attendance and participation at gram sansad meetings in a sample of 20 panchayat constituencies located in 14 GPs in three different districts (24 Parganas (N), 24 Parganas (S) and South Dinajpur) in May It is based on a survey of villagers by the authors following recent gram sansad meetings, concerning their participation in these meetings. The overall participation rate in these meetings was 12% of all voters, somewhat below the 16% rate they report for West Bengal as a whole. This suggests one out of every seven or eight voters attended the gram sansad meetings, where the minimum required for a quorum is one out of ten. Of those attending, 43% on average were landless, 41% were marginal or small landowners, and the rest 16% were medium or large landowners. The attendance percentage may be clear by the following table as presented by Ghatak and Ghatak (2002) in their paper (Tables 4,5 and 6): TABLE 3: GRAM SANSAD ATTENDANCE RATES Men Women SC ST Muslims Landless Marginal and Small Landowners Left Front Political Affiliation % attending % voters * * % Constituencies secured by Left Front candidates But the most important part of their observation points out at the improvement in the quality of the participation. The participants actively voice demand for new projects, suggest how allocated funds should be spent and debate how projects should be designed. The pradhan and the local representatives are questioned on the progress of implementation of projects, and often face allegations about misuse of funds and selection of beneficiaries. The response of elected officials to these criticisms showed that they could not take the voters present at the meeting for granted. In some cases where there was overwhelming evidence in favour of the criticisms raised by the people, the village council officials admitted their error. Sometimes the elected representatives and other village council functionaries gave a detailed account of the financial situation in respect of various schemes and tried to explain their poor performance in terms of delay of arrival of funds from the state government. This represents a marked improvement over the previous situation where the power of the village council (gram panchayat) was totally concentrated in the hands of the pradhan.the Pradhan s power could be maintained mainly by the fact that the common villagers were not privy to information about the allocation of resources and there was no forum to voice their opinions and criticisms. The village constituency meetings seem to be an important institutional innovation to contribute to the ideal of participatory governance, although from our study we cannot judge how much of an effect it will have in making the allocation of resources responsive to public demand, or improving the implementation of projects. 13 The nature of discussions in the 14 gram sansad meetings, as the Ghatak and Ghatak study reveals, revolves around four main issues which also reflects the requirement of competence for participation: (a) agenda setting for (demands for new programs and priorities for GP spending); (b) Designing for the future projects; (c) selection of beneficiaries (distribution of water or housing benefits); and (d) review and monitoring of past and current GP projects (including location of projects, quality complaints, corruption/mismanagement complaints). The account of Ghatak and Ghatak suggests a forum that enables genuine and competent participation by diverse groups within these villages in public discussions, inducing a measure of accountability of elected members to their constituencies. 6

7 Although Ghatak and Ghatak study did take the quality of participation along with the quantity of attendance, the direct relation between the attending members of the Village Council and the literacy rate of the members have not been established. That relation is established by an empirical study on the Gram Panchayats of Suri I Block in Birbhum district of West Bengal. 14 After completion of the Total Literacy Campaign programme Birbhum was declared as a full literate district in 1992 with the literate population of , which is 80.56% of the total population aged six years and above. 15 Suri I block consists of seven Gram Panchayats viz. Karidhya, Nagari, Khatanga, Tilpara, Alunda, Mallickpur and Bhurkuna. According to the 2001 census, the block has a total population of 96,485 persons out of which 49,942 are male and 46,543 are female. Total number of literate persons is 51,322, which is 62.98% of the total population. Total number of male literate persons is 30,805 (72.81%) and that of female literate persons is 20,517 (52.37%). The following two tables may be important for establishing the nexus relation between the increase in literacy rate and the increase in the number of participating citizens in the post-election decision making process viz. choosing from the alternative combination of functions through participation in the Gram Sabha (bottom level of the Gram Panchayat) meeting and so on. TABLE 4: VOTERS TURN OUT IN PANCHAYAT ELECTIONS Name of Gram Voters turn out Panchayat Karidhya 45% 57% 62% Nagari 42% 58% 61% Khatanga 39% 55% 59% Tilpara 47% 53% 56% Alunda 32% 48% 56% Mallickpur 37% 46% 57% Bhurkuna 46.5% 53.2% 61% Source: Panchayat Parichiti 89, 94 and 99 of Birbhum district TABLE 5: AVERAGE PERCENTAGE OF PRESENCE IN GRAM SABHA MEETING Name of Literacy % the G.P Karidhya 65% 10% 10.3% 12% 26% 35% 56% Nagari 62% 10% 12% 18.7% 21.6% 48% 50% Khatanga 60% 10% 10% 10.3% 27% 32% 49% Tilpara 55% 10% 14% 21% 30% 37.9% 48% Alunda 24% 9.7% 11% 16% 27% 32% 49% Mallickpur 50% 9.9% 10% 16% 25% 39% 45% Bhurkuna 36% 8.6% 10% 17% 32% 36% 42% Source: Records from every Gram Panchayat (Year wise literacy rate was unavailable.) TABLE 6: CANDIDATES FILING NOMINATION PAPERS FOR THE PARTY IN THE TOTAL G.P. OF SURI I BLOCK Year INC BJP BSP NCP CPI(M) CPI RSP FB AITC Ind.& others Source: Office of the District Panchayat and Rural Development Officer, Birbhum, Govt. of West Bengal 7

8 From the above tables it may be deduced that the increased literacy rate has in its turn increased the voters turn out and the average percentage of presence in the gram sabha meeting (barring the case of Alunda G.P.). The obvious relation between the increase in the rate of literacy and the increase in political awareness is established by the data presented in the Table no. 6 which shows an increase of almost double (from 118 in 1988 to 232 in 2003) in the number of candidates filing nomination papers for the party in the total Gram Panchayats of Suri I Block in 2003 in respect of that of Cooperative Attitude: Due to the increase in awareness attitude of the people especially below poverty line are also fast changing. There are different types of co-operatives on the basis of different occupations that exist through out West Bengal. It is true that at present, co-operatives are under the shackles of the Government that has passed various acts, rules and regulations to control the cooperative movement. The result is that the co-operative movement to a large extent is suffocating under these controls. Despite Self Help Group (SHG) 16 movement is gradually picking up in West Bengal in the post-tlc phase. These groups are encouraged to develop their own bank, which can give them loan at the time of need bypassing the moneylenders. The groups make arrangement for the development of micro-enterprises and also make arrangement for the self-employed persons like weavers, or small-scale food processors to meet the buyers in the market directly bypassing the wholesale businessmen. The groups also develop the capabilities of their members to effectively participate in the decision making process. Thus a strong small-scale co-operative movement is growing stronger day by day. In fact through out West Bengal these groups are sincerely attempting for a redistribution of wealth and power among the poor especially among the women in a novel way. As per the information of the Panchayat and Rural Development Department (2004), the number of such groups through out West Bengal is For quite some time now a number of NGOs and different Departments of various State Governments and Central Government in India have been facilitating the development of Self-Help Groups (SHG) for generating Self-employment in the rural areas. West Bengal state is also no exception. As per the monthly report (of March 2005) on the Status of the Self Help Groups in the district of Burdwan prepared by the District Rural Development Cell, Burdwan district, it is observed that a total number of 7604 such groups have been formed in 277 Gram Panchayat area of Burdwan since Among these, more than 2750 groups are operating as exclusively as women SHGs. All these indicate that the consciousness for participation in a democratic association is increased through literacy and this attitudinal development has put its mark on the spread of participatory democracy through out West Bengal in a positive manner. Admittedly the development of Self-Help Groups has given an impetus to establish a self-funded rural social security system that helps to do away with the massive underemployment in the rural society in West Bengal. It articulates a concept of governance based on citizens' democratic acceptance of a carefully crafted balance between the freedom of markets and the provision of public goods for the redistribution of wealth in the society involving openness and concern for others. This privileges the concept of civil society at all levels, over that of state sovereignty and aims at the long-standing goals of developing societal harmony among different sections viz. different religions and different castes. Social Harmony: The word social in the expression social harmony is an important reminder to view individuals in a collective way and not to view them in an isolated manner. It is often told that a family flourishes if there is a strong tie among its members; likewise a state can also rise up to the peak of social harmony if the increasing numbers of citizens participate with competence in the structure and process of government and the local government takes the decision in an autonomous manner. Spread of education develops the capability of human beings to take a rational decision in every structure of democracy. In India various social cohesions along with primordial loyalties towards language, religion, caste and ethnic groups have traditionally remained as blocks against the development of not only political citizenship but also social harmony. Hence one author observed, Although in modern western societies primordial associations have recently been utilized by minorities to promote their occupational, political and educational interests, they are nevertheless often considered a socially pathological phenomenon. In India, on the other hand the most common pattern since at least the beginning of the 8

9 century has been the utilization of primordial associations. 18 The consciousness for participation in a democratic association cuts into the primordial loyalties of the members to their social cohesions and there by facilitates the democratic participatory process that ultimately strengthens the bond within the society. Different philosophers have accounted for the development of social harmony at different periods of history in different ways. Confucius believed that harmony in society would flourish when social intercourse was determined by the virtue of humanity and benevolence (ren), a concept involving openness and concern for others and for that, men of high social rank had the additional responsibility of providing an example of proper ethical conduct to the people. This refers to a process of widening social networks and shared norms through social interactions that remain relevant still today although the complex mechanisms, processes, relationships and institutions through which this can be generated are different today. Literacy is an essential tool in creating that social network and shared norms. Conclusion: Participation has complex demands, which certainly include income distribution, equality of opportunity in the context of development and basic education of the people. Dreze and Sen write, The empowerment value of basic education is so obvious that there is something puzzling in the fact that the promotion of education has received so little attention from social and political leaders in the post-independence period. 19 In fact the comprehensive and holistic perspective of participation is often missing from the concept of social progress in India. Economic growth is an indispensable element, and sometimes precondition, of social progress. But a single-minded pursuit of rapid growth cannot be the whole of development. Kothari observed, the unidimensional and almost exclusively economic basis of the development paradigm has undermined the prospects for not just development, but for survival of large strata of the world s peoples. 20 Conducting of Total Literacy Campaign, despite its late introduction, warrants optimism about the potential for qualitative participation in the structures of local government in West Bengal. Once that relation becomes established, development of social harmony will only be a matter of time. Notes and References: 1 Panchayati Raj is a unique grass root rural self-governing institutional set up for democratic decentralization. 2 Mill, J. S., Representative Government, Chapter 2, The Criterion of a Good Form of Government as published in the website accessed on Dreze, J. and Sen, A., 2002, India: Development and Participation, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, p. p Published in the Website as accessed on The following table regarding literacy in India has also been published in the same site. 5 Published in the website of the Department of Education, Govt. of India as accessed on Evaluation of Learning Outcomes in Literacy Campaign(Report of Dave Committee)(National Literacy Mission, DAE, Govt. Of India, New Delhi, 1994 edn.). Dr. R.H. Dave headed the NLM whose report came to be known as "The Dave Committee Report". 7 West Bengal Human Development Report 2004, Published by Development & Planning Department, Government of West Bengal and prepared in association with Planning Commission, Government of India, and the United Nations Development Programme, p.p (Referred documents are: NSSO Report 469-Employment and unemployment among social groups in India and NSSO, Report number 468: Employment and unemployment situation among religious groups in India, ) 8 Mehta, Arun C., 2005, Elementary Education in India: Where Do We Stand? State Report Cards 2004,New Delhi, National Institute Educational Planning and Administration, p Government of West Bengal (1992), Report of the Education Commission, Calcutta. 10 West Bengal Human Development Report 2004, op. cit. Chapter 7, p.p As far as the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973 as modified up to 31 st January 2004[especially by the West Bengal Panchayat (Amendment) Act, 1994] is concerned Every constituency of a Gram Panchayat under clause (a) of subsection (3) of section 4 shall have a Gram Sansad consisting of persons whose names are included in the electoral roll of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly for the time being in force pertaining to the area comprised in such constituency of the Gram Panchayat. And Every Gram shall have a Gram Sabha consisting of persons registered in 9

10 the electoral roll pertaining to the area of the Gram. See in this context Art. 16A and 16B of the West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973 as modified up to 31 st January 2004, Govt. of West Bengal, Law Dept., Legislative, p. p Thus the difference between the Gram Sansad and Gram Sabha is subtle in nature. 12 Ghatak, Maitreesh and Maitreya Ghatak, `Recent Reforms in the Panchayat System in West Bengal: Towards Greater Participatory Governance? Economic and Political Weekly, January , P. P Ibid, p Data of this study has been collected by Pal, Sudipta in 2003 at M. Phil level under the supervision of Bhattacharyya, R. in the University of Burdwan. 15 The Literacy Campaign in Birbhum District of West Bengal, National Literacy Mission, India, 1993, p SHG is a group of rural poor people who have volunteered to organize themselves into a group for eradication of poverty of the members. They agree to save regularly and convert their savings into a common Fund. The members of the group agree to use this common fund and such other funds that they may receive as a group from the bank or from the government as a loan through a common management. 17 Swanirvaratai Gramin Shaktir Avyuday, Bengali Leaflet on village self-employment scheme, 2004, published by the Panchayat and Rural Development Department, Govt. of West Bengal, 3 rd cover page 18 Kahane, Reuven, Legitimation and Integration in Developing Societies: The Case of India, 1982, Colorado, West View Press, p.9 19 Dreze, J. and Sen, A., 2002, op. cit., p Kothari, R., 1990, Communications for Alternative Development (1 st published in 1983 in Development Dialogue), Rethinking Development: In Search of Human Alternatives, Delhi, Ajanta, p. 73 About the Author Rabindranath Bhattacharyya, PhD, is a Reader in Political science in the University of Burdwan (West Bengal , India) and currently he is the Head of the Department. He joined the University of Burdwan in 1988, leaving the West Bengal Education Service (Higher Education) posted at Durgapur Government College since He has done his Ph. D. (Arts) thesis on Nation-Building in India - Gandhi and Nehru: A Comparative Study from the university of Calcutta. He has already presented papers in a number of national and international symposia including XIX World Congress of the International Political Science Association, 2003 in Durban, Launching Conference of the NAPSIPAG, 2004 in Kuala Lumpur and the Gandhi, Non-Violence and Modernity conference held at the Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University, Canberra, He has at present been supervising a number of Ph. D. scholars in the area of political participation, empowerment of women, and Indian political thought. He has got a number of publications to his credit. Some of his recent publications include: i) Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and the Reconstruction of National Education in India ( ), 2003, in Singh Mahavir, ed. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad: Nationalist Profile, Anamika Publishers, New Delhi. (Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies Website display at: ii) In Search of an Alternative to Colonial Modernity in India: Gandhi s Concept of Swaraj Relocated published in The Burdwan Journal of Political Science, Vol. 1, 2003 ed. by Roy, A.B., Burdwan, the Department of Political Science, The University of Burdwan. iii) Social Capital through Participatory Democracy: J. P. s Total Revolution Revisited published in Jayaprakash Narayan (Birth Centenary Volume), 2005, edited by Prof. Sandip Das, published by Mittal Publications, New Delhi 10